Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) production in Burkina Faso: Nutritional benefits and challenges of its use in the context of food and climate crises

Burkina Faso is a developing country facing major challenges in terms of food and nutritional security. Agriculture is essentially rain-fed, and climatic hazards such as drought have a negative impact on the productivity of crops, namely, millet, sorghum, maize and rice. In this context, quinoa, introduced in Burkina Faso through the FAO in 2015, appears to be an interesting alternative for diversifying crops and improving the food and nutritional security of the population. The aim of this review is to highlight the nutritional potential, advantages and challenges facing quinoa cultivation in Burkina Faso. It also seeks to raise awareness of the opportunities offered by this alternative crop to improve food security and nutrition for the population in Burkina Faso. We reviewed previous works by several authors who revealed that quinoa is an important nutritional source. Different information was collected and synthesized to determine the correlation between the introduction of quinoa and its positive contribution to improving the food and economic situation in Burkina Faso. The literature shows that quinoa can be used as an alternative crop for diversification and food security due to its ability to adapt to climatic changes and can offer significant nutritional benefits. However, challenges related to cultivation and processing techniques, and low awareness of this crop among local consumers and agro-industry actors, may limit quinoa production and consumption in the country. This paper sheds light on the possibilities for quinoa processing, products and byproducts in Burkina Faso.